"You came to the earthly realm because I was Neferet's lover?" Kalona crossed his arms over his broad chest and met his brother's amber gaze.

"No, I came because you are a liar and a thief. The rape of the last of Neferet's goodness is just one of your many crimes," Erebus said. He, too, crossed his arms over his chest.

Kalona laughed. "You have not been spying well enough if you believe rape had anything to do with what Neferet and I shared. She was more than willing, more than ready for my body."

"I was not speaking of her body!" Erebus's voice had risen and Kalona could hear the sound of vampyres calling, questioning what was happening over by Nyx's Temple.

"As usual, brother, you have appeared to cause problems for me. I was supposed to remain in the shadows, unseen and waiting to be summoned. Though, as I consider more fully, it will be amusing to watch you deal with mortal discovery. A quick word of advice-even vampyres tend to overreact when meeting a god."

Erebus didn't hesitate. He lifted both hands and commanded, "Conceal us!"

There was a rush of wind and a feeling of lightness that Kalona found so familiar, so bittersweet, that only two responses came to his mind-anger or despair. He would not allow Erebus to see his despair.

"You defy Nyx? She has proclaimed that I may not enter the Otherworld. How dare you take me here!" Kalona's night-colored wings were fully extended and he tensed, ready to attack his brother.

"You always play the impetuous fool, brother. I would never go against my Consort's proclamations. I did not bring you to the Otherworld. I only brought a piece of the Otherworld to you to shield us, if only for a few moments, from mortal eyes." Erebus smiled again. This time he did not dim the beauty of his expression. Sunlight glowed from his body. His wings glistened with feathers of gold. His skin was perfect as if he had been fashioned from the rays of the sun.

He had been, Kalona thought with disgust. He had been fashioned when the sky kissed the sun. Just as I had been fashioned when the sky kissed the moon. The sky, like most immortals, is a fickle bastard who took as he pleased and then paid no attention to the offspring he left behind.

"How does it feel? Better than when you snuck in, chasing after that little fledgling, Zoey Redbird. Then you were only spirit. You could not feel the magick of Nyx's realm against your skin. And you always were so impressed by anything you could touch, could physically claim as your own."

Good, Kalona thought, he becomes angry. That will cause his perfection to blur.

It was Kalona's turn to smile. The light he turned on his brother was not the hot, garish light of the sun. It was the cool, silver luminescence of the moon. "Still jealous that I touched her after all this time? You do remember Nyx is a goddess, do you not? She could not be touched had it not been her will, her desire, to be stroked, caressed, loved by-"

"I did not come here to speak of my Consort!" The words exploded in flashes of golden heat around Kalona.

"Such a display of godly temper!" Kalona chuckled sarcastically. "And they named you the good one. If only the lackeys that choose to remain in the Otherworld could see you now."

"It is not that they named me the good one. They named you the usurper!" Erebus hurled the words at his brother.

"Truly? Ask again. I believe, after eons of careful consideration, they would name me the one who refused to share her," Kalona said.

"She chose me." Erebus's voice was low; his fists were clenched at his sides.

"Did she? My memory differs."

"You betrayed her!" Erebus shouted.

Kalona ignored his brother's temper tantrum. He had witnessed them before. Instead he spoke with the coldness of the moon's surface. "Why did you come? Say what you have to say and then be gone. The mortal world is not much of a realm, but it is mine. I will not share it with you, just as I would not share her with you."

"I come to warn you. We heard your oath in the Otherworld. We know you have pledged to be Death's Warrior and to become Sword Master of this school."

"And Leader of the Sons of Erebus," Kalona added. "Do not forget the rest of my title."

"I could never forget that you intended to blaspheme my children."

"Children? Are you mating with humans now and producing males that grow up to be vampyre Warriors? That is fascinating, especially as I was judged so harshly for creating my sons."

"Walk away." Erebus's golden eyes began to glow. "Leave this place and stop meddling in the lives of Nyx's vampyres and in the lives of the honorable Warriors who have pledged themselves to my service."